Frostclaw
Fire |resistance = Freeze |explosive_components = Freeze Sac (x2) Freeze Unit |weak_spots = Eyes Power Cell (x2) |habitat = Snowy areas |components = |loots = }} The Frostclaw is a machine exclusive to ''The Frozen Wilds''. Like its twin the Fireclaw, the Frostclaw is classed as an Acquisition Class machine despite it’s main purpose being combat. It is an extremely formidable combat-ready machine, capable of highly damaging Freeze-augmented ranged and melee attacks. It is known to be found only in the Banuk region known as The Cut. History Frostclaws were created by AI HEPHAESTUS at its R&D cauldron, Cauldron EPSILON, in The Cut. These machines were made superior to other machines in terms of armor and damage resistance, and are referred to as Daemonic Machines. Frostclaws were the second of three machines unique to The Cut that the Nora huntress Aloy encountered. She first encountered a Daemonic Frostclaw in a valley along the pilgrimage route known as the Shaman’s Path. Just before entering the valley, she glimpsed the huge machine at the bottom of a gorge that she had almost fallen into. As she approached the valley, she heard its roars, then saw it proper upon entering the valley. The encounter was complicated by the presence of a Control Tower, which would repair any damage the Frostclaw sustained. She prevailed, neutralizing the Control Tower and killing the Frostclaw. Her second encounter with Frostclaws was far deadlier. She and the Banuk chieftain Aratak had just completed the second leg of the hunting challenge that Aloy had mounted against him for his chieftancy. In the final hunting area, they both unexpectedly found themselves up against three Daemonic Frostclaws, which had appeared and killed the hunters who had been driving in their quarry. While Aratak fought bravely, it was Aloy who virtually singlehandedly killed all three Frostclaws, earning Aratak’s respect, deference and voluntary relinquishment of his chieftaincy to her. Additionally, she engaged and killed two Daemonic Frostclaws as part of the Chieftain’s Trial at The Cut’s Snowchants Hunting Grounds. She engaged and killed two more alongside the Banuk fighter Inatut at the location known as the Cloud-Shear. Finally, she engaged and killed a Daemonic Frostclaw alongside Aratak and his sister, the Banuk shaman Ourea, as they mounted an expedition through the ancient Firebreak facility to Cauldron EPSILON. Within EPSILON, the three of them saw Frostclaw chassis being transported on an assembly line and engaged and killed another two in a hidden area just off the route to the cauldron’s core. Appearance Like the Fireclaw, the Frostclaw is somewhat ursine in appearance, movement, and locomotion. Its chassis resembles the body and has the gait of a grizzly bear. Presumably, HEPHAESTUS modeled the two huge machines after the long-extinct animal, which was native to the region during the time of the Old Ones. However, while they are extremely formidable and deadly, Frostclaws are not as large as Fireclaws, and have considerably less capacity to sustain damage. The head ends in a pointed, toothy snout with a three-mandible jaw housing a system of grinders. A pair of optical sensor arrays is located in the same position as a bear’s eyes would be. Mounted on each forelimb are a pair of gear-like wheels, whose purpose is unknown. There is an armor-protected cryogeneration unit called a Freeze Unit on its chest, and two power cells are located on its upper back. Freeze Sacs, armored storage tanks containing Chillwater are built into its chassis, similar to Freeze Bellowbacks. However, while the Freeze Bellowback’s tanks are prominently placed on its back and throat, the Frostclaw’s Freeze Sacs are seamlessly built into its shoulders, are much more damage resistant, and generally have more armor. Abilities Like the grizzly bear, the Frostclaw is able to adopt both a quadrupedal and bipedal stance. In either stance it employs several fast, relentless and extremely damaging Freeze-based ranged attacks and Freeze-augmented melee attacks. While their capacity to sustain damage is substantially less than that of Fireclaws, it is still formidable. Despite their huge size, Frostclaws are quite fast and agile, able to run at high speed and easily spring up high embankments. Being Freeze-based machines, they are extremely resistant to attacks from weapons that utilize Freeze. Additionally, Daemonic Frostclaws also have all of the abilities of Daemonic Machines: considerably more durable armor and damage resistance, immunity to Corruption, and they cannot be overridden. Weaknesses Like all Freeze-based machines, Frostclaws are particularly susceptible to attacks from weapons that utilize Fire. However, if a Burn state is inflicted on them, they are able to surround themselves with an icy aura that instantly dissipates it. Furthermore, though they are extremely resistant to Freeze, they can in fact be frozen by a sufficiently powerful Freeze explosion. This can be triggered by destroying their Freeze Sacs or their Freeze Units. Additionally, destroying the Freeze Sacs located on it's shoulders weakens the claw slash attacks and disables the Frostclaw’s ability to augment them with Freeze, and destroying the Freeze Unit located on it's chest disables the ranged terrestrial attacks. Provided both it's Freeze Sacs and Freeze Unit have been destroyed, a permanent frozen state will be inflicted on the Frostclaw. Their power cells can be overloaded via strikes from Shock Arrows, triggering an electrical explosion that stuns them. Indeed, this is the only way to electrically stun a Daemonic Frostclaw, given its innate high resistance to Shock damage. Attacks Quadruped Stance Biped Stance Both Stances Components Loot }} Trivia * The Frostclaw also bears a resemblance to the cryptid known as the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, claimed to have been seen in the modern-day Himalayan mountains. * During The Frozen Wilds development, Frostclaws were referred to as CryoBears.[https://vimeo.com/242259505 Rocky Schouten - Cinematics Reel - Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds] Gallery Frostclaw Quest.png|A Daemonic Frostclaw References Category:Machines Category:Non-mountable Category:EPSILON Override Category:Acquisition Class Category:Medium Sized Machines Category:Fire Vulnerability Category:Freeze Resistance Category:The Cut